Women's Rights & Issues
Related: About this forumClueless misogynist Scott Walker doesn't see why ultrasounds are controversial
MaddowBlog
Walker defends state-mandated, medically unnecessary ultrasounds
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) isnt the only far-right policymaker to push state-mandated, medically unnecessary ultrasounds. He is, however, arguably the most deliberately obtuse when it comes to understanding why the policy might be controversial.
Right Wing Watch reported yesterday on Walkers latest interview with conservative talk radio host Dana Loesch, and the governors curious defense for his policy.
Walker told Loesch that criticism he received about the ultrasound bill was merely an attack from the gotcha media, and that he was in fact just trying to provide women with a cool thing.
The thing about that, the media tried to make that sound like that was a crazy idea, he said. Most people I talked to, whether theyre pro-life or not, I find people all the time wholl pull out their iPhone and show me a picture of their grandkids ultrasound and how excited they are, so thats a lovely thing. I think about my sons are 19 and 20, we still have their first ultrasounds. Its just a cool thing out there.
We just knew if we signed that law, if we provided the information that more people if they saw that unborn child would make a decision to protect and keep the life of that unborn child, he said.
Willful ignorance is an amazing thing.
This has been going on for quite a while long enough for the far-right governor to get a clue about the subject. In 2013, for example, Walker defended his policy by defending ultrasounds themselves. I dont have any problem with ultrasound, he told reporters. I think most people think ultrasounds are just fine.
A year later, Walker said the ultrasound policy simply provided information. Now he thinks its a gotcha story from the media, which suggests he doesnt know what those words mean, either.
Its hard to say with confidence whether the Wisconsin Republican is pretending to be dumb for political expedience or whether hes genuinely confused, but either way, its probably worth setting the record straight.
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The problem, whether Walker can understand this or not, is that politicians shouldnt be in the business of dictating ultrasounds use. In this case, a governor with no background in medicine, science, or health services took it upon himself to legally mandate a medical procedure before women could exercise their rights. This governor put himself between the patient and her doctor for no medical reason whatsoever regardless of the patients wishes, and regardless of what medical professionals consider necessary.
Why? According to Walker, if right-wing policymakers played doctor, and pushed politics into exam rooms, maybe they could try to make women feel guilty about terminating unwanted pregnancies.
And when this became controversial, Walker dismissed the uproar as nonsense from the gotcha media. In other words, the GOP governor not only didnt care about criticism, he didnt even bother to learn what the criticism was all about. Its one thing to disagree with those who disagree with you, but in this case, the far-right Wisconsinite has struggled to understand a simple argument from the other side.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/walker-defends-state-mandated-medically-unnecessary-ultrasounds?cid=eml_mra_20150527